One of the two independent MPs who will decide which party will form government in South Australia has demanded more focus on infrastructure for the mining industry so the resources in his electorate can be taken out of the ground.

Geoff Brock
, the independent for Frome which covers Port Pirie in northern SA, said he also wants to see an actual election result before he makes up his mind, and won’t necessarily back the same party that the other independent MP,
Bob Such
, might back.

Mr Brock, who met SA Liberals leader
Steven Marshall
on Monday, said the rail, road and ports infrastructure that is crucial for development of mining had not been built, and this was holding back the economy.

He wants to smooth the way for a re-start of an expansion of
BHP Billiton
’s Olympic Dam project. A $30 billion expansion was put on ice in 2012.

Mr Brock says he may be tempted by a ministerial position involving regional development, but SA has been too slow to built the right infrastructure to allow the mining sector to expand.

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“There’s a lot junior explorers that have been held back, and a lot of good discoveries that aren’t going ahead,’’ he says. “The infrastructure needs to be there to enable to resources to get out.’’

Result to become clear by Thursday

Mr Brock intends to return to his home town of Port Pirie on Tuesday for meetings with the chief executives of the five local council areas that encompass his electorate, as part of his deliberations about whether to back the ALP or Liberals. Counting of votes will resume on Tuesday, with 70 per cent counted.

The Electoral Commission spent Monday checking the validity of all postal and absentee votes. SA Electoral Commissioner Kay Mousley and her staff will officially distribute preferences on Sunday, but by this Thursday expect counting to be far enough advanced to have a good guide as to the final make-up of the lower house.Strategists expect the ALP to finish with 23 seats, and the Liberals 22, although there are four seats that are extremely close.

Dr Such, 69, the independent for Fisher, also met Mr Marshall on Monday. He wants much greater focus on development in SA and says that will be a greater consideration than what is on offer for his electorate in Adelaide’s south. Both independent MPs met Premier
Jay Weatherill
on Sunday.

Former Victorian premier
Jeff Kennett
said on Monday that he felt sad for the people of SA because of the vagaries of the system where the Liberals may not win government even though they had 52.5 per cent of the popular vote.

“More of the same definitely won’t bring the change in culture that is needed to have South Australia shaken out of its malaise,’’ Mr Kennett said.

Abbott defends SA result

Prime Minister
Tony Abbott
said federal Labor could not dismiss the rout of the Tasmanian government as ­having no federal implications and at the same time claim Labor’s strong showing in SA was a rebuttal of the ­federal government.

Mr Abbott said 63 per cent of South Australians voted for someone other than the Labor Party on Saturday.

“This has been a strong result by the Liberal Party in SA,’’ he said.

“So it’s very hard to see how Mr Shorten can claim this as vindication of the Labor position.’’

In Tasmania, the Labor-Green ­government was swept aside and ­federal Labor has dismissed this as a consequence of Labor being in ­government for 16 years, or the “it’s time factor".

In SA, where the Liberals won almost 53 per cent of the two-party vote but again failed to win the marginal seats required, Labor says the Abbott government’s proposed budget cuts and its attitude towards General Motors Holden were a factor.

Opposition Leader
Bill Shorten
refused to join Mr Abbott in advising the independents over who to side with in minority government.

“I’m not in the business of running for South Australian politics. I would caution Mr Abbott on trying to lean on people here,’’ Mr Shorten said.

“Let’s leave it to the South Australian politicians to sort out whether or not Labor forms a government or the Liberals form a government."